Roja Kannan celebrated the 30th Anniversary of her dance institution,
Bharatha Natyalaya on July 6th and 7th at Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai.
The program conceived as 'Nrityopacaram' was dedicated to her Guru Adyar
K. Lakshman to highlight the continuum of his extraordinary legacy
through the Guru-Shishya parampara. The two day event was packed
with artistic presentations of classic and timeless choreographies of
Adyar Lakshman, as well as the choreographies of Roja Kannan. The
more than 70 participants in the event demonstrated the rigor, subtlety
and beauty of the Kalakshetra style in their presentation with
outstanding orchestral support.

The chief guest on day one of the function, Dr. Umayalpuram Sivaraman,
described Roja's dedication to the art, and her knowledge of natyam and
music as extraordinary. He commended her for her perseverance and grit
in maintaining the high standards of the Kalakshetra bani and in
training youngsters with such passion and devotion. The guests of honor
Sudharani Raghupathy, Nandini Ramani and Dr. Anita Ratnam all
congratulated Roja on this huge accomplishment and noted her talent not
just in performing, but in teaching and training the next generation of
young dancers. Anita Ratnam walked the audience down memory lane and
described the dedication and commitment of the "great foursome" of Adyar
K Lakshman, Madurai N. Sethuraman, Trichur P. Ramanathan and Madurai N.
Krishnan with whom she, Vyjayanthimala Bali, Sudharani Raghupathy and
Roja Kannan had the good fortune to work with. They blessed Roja with a
long career in teaching dance and hoped that she would continue the
legacy to celebrate her institution's golden anniversary.

For Roja Kannan, there was no better way to celebrate the 30th
anniversary of her academy than by presenting her guru Adyar Lakshman's
classic compositions known for their unique and exceptional
choreographic excellence. All the group items presented were originally
choreographed for individual performance, but Roja had redesigned the
items for group presentation. Nandi Chol was followed by Siva Dhyanam
(Vasantha, adi). This invocatory number was choreographed by Adyar
Lakshman along with the renowned mridangist Trichur P. Ramanathan almost
four decades ago at a time when invocatory numbers were restricted to
Alarippu, Pushpanjali and Thodaya Mangalam. The rhythmic cycle of the
sollus follow the Gopuchyathi pattern reaching a crescendo and finishing
with a tisra gathi Mukthaipu and theermanam. The Jathiswaram (Abhogi,
rupaka) choreographed by Adyar Lakshman for his disciple Mavin Khoo in
Japan in the early 90's, is packed with adavus and is a continuous
performance from start to finish with no breaks in-between the korvais, a
real test to a dancer's stamina, focus and ability.

The Ragamalika Sabdam in Tamizh, a composition of Thanjai Arunachalam
Pillai, choreographed by Adyar Lakshman's sister Nagamani Srinivasa Rao,
was about a lovelorn nayika smitten by the Lord Nataraja at Chidambaram
and her yearning to be united with him. Roja Kannan presented Papanasam
Sivan's "Swami naan undan adimai" (Nattakurinji, adi). This pada varnam
was choreographed by Adyar Lakshman in the late 70's and instantly
became a rage with every student of his who vied with each other to
perform it on stage. The composition has 9 electrifying jathis in the
first half of the varnam, which has two lines of pallavi and two lines
of anupallavi and was a veritable test of stamina and grit for every
dancer. In the lines "Thamadam siyaadu vandarul" Adyar Lakshman gave his
disciples the liberty to use any one of the episodes from the
Thiruvilayadal Puranam, thus initiating them into choreographing their
own dances. This evening, Roja chose to present the story of Kaliya
Nayanaar, one of the 63 Nayanmaars who attained siddhi at Thiruvotriyur
near Chennai.

Lakshman was one of the first Nattuvanar Gurus to send his disciples to
Kalanidhi Narayanan to learn padams and javalis which gurus did not
normally allow. Roja's senior disciple Saranya presented a padam learnt
from Kalanidhi Narayanan. A unique item special to Lakshman's school is
'Skanda Leela', a composition of Srilankan Tamizh scholar Ananda Kumar
Satchidananda (Ragamalika, adi). Adyar Lakshman deftly handled the
episodes of the Skanda Puranam starting from the birth of Muruga till
Valli Kalyanam aligning with the poet's innate imagination. Next was a
classic composition of Neelakanta Sivan, "Ananda Natamaaduvaar Thillai"
choreographed by Adyar Lakshman describing the Ananda Thandavam of Lord
Siva in Chidambaram.

The program concluded with a thillana (Mohanam, rupakam) composed by
Madurai N. Krishnan, one of the very first ones that Adyar Lakshman
choreographed which has all the aspects mandatory to a thillana. The
orchestral support was provided by Adyar K. Gopinath (nattuvangam),
Radha Badri (vocal), Nellai D. Kannan (mridangam), R. Kalaiarasan
(violin), J.B. Shruthi Sagar (flute) and R. Lakshminarayanan (tambura).

Slide show

The chief guest on day two, Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, commended Roja's
extraordinary dedication and deep emotional connection to the art and
her students and for conceiving a beautiful bhakti-laden
presentation. Guest of honor Guru Ranganayaki Jayaraman, commented on
Roja's broad and inclusive outlook in integrating and incorporating
music from various poets and artists in her choreographies. She
highlighted Roja's open approach to working with the community of
artists as a true blessing. The other guest of honor, Guru VP
Dhananjayan fondly remembered Roja and her sister Meena as child
prodigies who have consistently maintained their love for the art and
their extraordinary devotion to their guru. He also mentioned the
challenges in running successful dance institutions and commended Roja
for upholding the values and traditions of this art amidst many
challenges. Guru Savithri Jagannatha Rao recollected Roja's days as a
young dancer in Lakshman's dance class and congratulated her for her
sincerity and hard work. She specifically mentioned the time and
commitments it takes to train students and applauded the parents for
supporting their children in their endeavors.

The evening featured choreographies of Roja Kannan in a Margam format
presented by her disciples. The items included Ganeshanjali of
Oothukaadu Venkata Kavi; Subramanya Kouthuvam choreographed by K.
Shubha, a senior disciple of Roja Kannan; "Pancha Raga Oudava Malika"
jatiswaram composed by Guru Ranganayaki Jayaraman and choreographed by
Roja's disciple Parur M.S. Ananthashree; Kummi by the youngest dancers
of Bharatha Natyalaya for verses from Thiruarutpa of Ramalinga Adigalar,
choreographed by senior teachers of Bharatha Natyalaya (K. Subha,
Anuradha Ramesh and Jayanthi Srivatsan); Sabdam "Thandai Muzhanga" of
Sembanarkoil Shanmugam (it was written exclusively for Shanta and VP
Dhananjayan and set to music by Madurai T. Sethuraman); Daru Varnam
"Maathay" of Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavathar; "Adi kondaar" of
Muthuthandavar, depicting the various scenes in Gokulam where Krishna is
playing with his friends and the Gopikas; a padam "Naada murali gaana
vilola" and thillana in Suruti of Oothukadu Venkata Kavi.